Twenty-six tonnes of rubbish, 28 fly-tipping sites and four abandoned cars were cleared from a Bicester estate during a week-long blitz on dirt, litter and rubbish.

Cherwell District Council threw extra resources into cleaning up the Glory Farm area of the town - including extra street sweeping, graffiti removal, litter picking, waste collections and anti-litter roadshows.

There was also camera surveillance at fly-tipping hotspots and a car amnesty, where the council took away unwanted vehicles free of charge.

The initiative was part of Cherwell's Cleaner Greener campaign, and aimed to build on the council's successful recycling scheme.

Council officials said similar blitzes had produced good results in Kidlington and Banbury.

According to Cherwell, the three campaigns saw more than 76 tonnes of rubbish collected, 70 fly-tips identified and cleared, and 19 unwanted cars taken away.

There were also 295 requests from residents for bulky waste to be removed and more than 450 blue recycling boxes or bins were ordered.

Council officers spoke to more than 500 Glory Farm residents about waste, street cleaning and recycling issues.

And in response, nine people asked for bulky waste collections, 60 households bought blue recycling wheelie bins, 70 people bought blue recycling boxes and 75 residents volunteered to take part in a follow-up litter pick in the estate later this year.

Cherwell's cabinet member for the environment Kieron Mallonsaid: "This is an excellent result. Having more than 130 extra blue bins and boxes in an area will help us increase the amount of waste that's recycled rather than dumped.

"It's also great news that 75 people have volunteered to join the community litter pick planned for the area.

"If these neighbourhood blitz campaigns are to be really successful we need the local community to make a commitment to build on the cleaning and clearing work we do during our week-long visit. The litter pick is a great way they can do that."

For more information, call 01295 221940 or email recycling@cherwell-dc.gov.uk